The Pro-Tenant PatrolLa patrulla pro-inquilinos

The Pro-Tenant Patrol

Ramón Antonio Sosa Mendoza and his son Ramón Sosa Mendoza Jr. live in a fifth floor walk-up in Hamilton Heights. The younger Ramón is now retired and receives disability benefits.

The group canvassed in West Harlem.

The two shared such details during a recent visit to their home‎ by State Senator Marisol Alcántara and members of the city’s Tenant Support Unit (TSU), including Community Engagement Director Karina Jiménez.

The team hit the streets, and in some cases, the living rooms, of West Harlem on Thurs., July 27th to encourage eligible New Yorkers to apply for NYC Rent Freeze Programs.‎

State Senator Marisol Alcántara speaks with residents.

The Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE) programs allow eligible tenants in rent-regulated apartments to freeze their rent at its current level. Regardless of the rent increase implemented, tenants would continue to pay the same amount as the moment when the rent was frozen, while the city would cover the difference.

SCRIE applicants must be 62 years of age or older, have a combined household income of $50,000 or less, have their name on the lease, and pay more than one-third of their monthly income in rent. To be eligible for DRIE, applicants also need to have been granted a federally qualifying disability benefit.

Alcántara visited various tenants in the neighborhood that TSU had flagged beforehand as potentially eligible for the Rent Freeze programs – which brought them to the Ramóns.‎

Mendoza and his son said they had been unaware of the program.

“I have just learned of this now in this first visit and [with] the papers I was given,” said Mendoza, who said the rent freeze would be of great benefit to the household.

Community Engagement Director Karina Jiménez explained the details to another tenant.

“Let’s say you pay $1,000 dollars in rent right now each month,” she said. “When you renew your lease, your landlord might raise it to $1,500 because that’s what’s legal. What happens is you are going to freeze it at $1000 dollars [as relates to] your income. When it goes up to $1,500, the city will pay the difference. And every time the rent increases, you stay frozen where you are. So in 20 years, when the rent goes up to, heaven forbid, $5,000 dollars, your rent will stay where it was frozen.”

Jiménez explained that these home and neighborhood visits were conducted in part to engage and assist elderly and disabled tenants for whom it would be difficult to travel in order to apply.

Through the afternoon, the group made its way onto the streets and into the residential buildings along the Amsterdam Avenue and 146th Street corridor.

“I have just learned of this now,” said tenant Ramon Sosa Mendoza during the house visit.

They encountered tenants along the way who had only started the application process; others had already submitted all paperwork and were awaiting a response. Those in need of assistance were provided contact information, and flyers were distributed to passersby.

Alcántara stopped every few feet to speak with residents, often bantering in Spanish.

With one resident, who said she was 70 years old, Alcántara asked about her birthplace in the Dominican Republic.

For one, Edis Ventura, a former Home Attendant who lives with her adult son, seemed uncertain at first when approached at her door.

“So this application is for what again?” asked Ventura.

“To freeze your rent,” responded Alcántara. “And that has to be renewed every year.”

Ventura said she wanted to speak to her family before applying, but said she would definitely follow up.

“I don’t work anymore, I live off my pension,” she said. “If my rent goes up, it would be a problem for me.”

Alcántara encouraged Ventura to visit her district office to speak with a staff member who could provide information and help with the application.

The local demand for rent assistance programs was acutely felt in one instance, as the team discovered that one tenant they had identified as eligible had already been evicted and was no longer on the premises.

State Senator Marisol Alcántara’s District Office is located at 5030 Broadway, Suite 701. For more information, please call 212.544.0173.